Criminal Investigation Command special agents continue to receive numerous reports from victims located around the world regarding various scams of persons impersonating U. Once victims are hooked, the criminals continue their ruse.

The perpetrators often tell the victims that their units do not have telephones or they are not allowed to make calls or they need money to "help keep the Army internet running." They often say they are widowers and raising a young child on their own to pull on the heartstrings of their victims. One victim revealed that she had sent more than ,000 to the scammer.

These scams are outright theft and are a grave misrepresentation of the U. Army and the tremendous amount of support programs and mechanisms that exist for Soldiers today, especially those serving overseas, said Grey. One version usually involves the sale of a vehicle; where the service member claims to be living overseas and has to quickly sell their vehicle because they are being sent to another duty station.

Along with the romance-type scams, CID has been receiving complaints from citizens worldwide that they have been the victims of other types of scams -- once again where a cyber crook is impersonating a U. After sending bogus information regarding the vehicle, the seller requests the buyer do a wire transfer to a third party to complete the purchase.

Victims are usually unsuspecting women, 30 to 55 years old, who believe they are romantically involved with an American Soldier, yet are being exploited and ultimately robbed, by perpetrators who strike from thousands of miles away.

"We've even seen instances where the perpetrators are asking the victims for money to purchase "leave papers" from the Army, help pay for medical expenses from combat wounds or help pay for their flight home so they can leave the war zone," said Grey.